The Science is Clear: Fish Farms Put Our Wild Pacific Salmon at Risk

School Yourself on the Latest Research

Piscine Reovirus (PRV)

Sea Lice

Fish Farm Waste

95% of farmed salmon in BC test positive for PRV

Piscine Reovirus (PRV)

Piscine Reovirus (PRV) is a highly contagious virus affecting salmon in B.C. A 2013 study concluded that PRV in BC was likely imported from Norwegian fish farms where the farmed fish originated. Because of the high density of salmon in fish farms, highly toxic variants of PRV have been able to live and prosper. [1]

In Norway, PRV has been linked to Heart and Skeletal Muscle Inflammation (HSMI), which causes problems with the heart, liver, spleen, and other internal organs in salmon. HSMI has a mortality rate of 20%. [2] It is a deadly disease that can quickly devastate a salmon population.

PRV is extremely contagious. 95% of farmed salmon in B.C. test positive for PRV. [3] The dense nature of open net-pen fish farms allows PRV to mutate to higher levels of virulence. Most concerning, PRV can be spread through water, making wild salmon who come in close proximity to open net-pen fish farms highly susceptible to the virus. PRV is a powerful example of what happens when viruses are left to replicate in open net-pen fish farms.

Sea Lice

Sea lice are parasites that cause serious harm to salmon. Sea lice incubate in the dense confines of commercial open net-pen fish farms and then emerge directly into the path of young migrating salmon.

In the natural environment, smolts would not normally encounter sea lice. But in an open net-pen fish farm, sea lice reproduce exponentially and become very difficult to measure, manage, and contain. [1] Vulnerable, young wild salmon are exposed to billions of sea lice as they pass by these farms placed dangerously close to their natural migration routes. Sea lice penetrate into the salmon’s flesh, puncture the skin and suck blood from young salmon. This has been shown to make them weaker and more susceptible to disease or illness – ultimately affecting the salmon run returns.

More concerning is that sea lice become resistant to drugs. [2] The prevalence and increasing resiliency of sea lice aren’t simply a threat to wild salmon, but are also responsible for major losses to the salmon farming industry itself. Even Norway, a recognized leader in sustainable aquaculture, has identified sea lice as its “single biggest issue.” [3]

In British Columbia, open net-pen fish farms currently operate with little mandated real-time transparency about sea lice infestations. When data is reported, we see significant non-compliance and disregard for out-migrating salmon smolts. Wild salmon populations already face threats to their resiliency in the natural environment, we simply cannot afford to tolerate losses from wholly avoidable sea lice infestations.

Fish Farm Waste

Fish farm waste is having a significant impact on the health of wild salmon. Although far from the only source of pollution in our oceans, net-pen fish farms discharge extraordinarily high concentrations of untreated sewage. These include large quantities of chemicals including copper, zinc, antibiotics such as oxytetracycline and oxolinic acid, anti-parasite compounds like ivermectin, and numerous insecticides. [1]

B.C. currently has over 100 open net-pen fish farms. A single average-sized fish farm of 200,000-fish produces:

fecal matter equivalent to 65,000 people

nitrogen equivalent to 20,000 people

phosphorous equivalent to 25,000 people[2]

When compared to humans, these numbers are staggering. In 2000, WWF Scotland calculated that phosphorous nutrient pollution from Scottish aquaculture was comparable to a city of 9.4 million people. At that time, Scotland’s population was just over 5 million people. [3]

This pollution contaminates the seabed and damages marine biodiversity – not just directly below the open net-pen salmon farms, but also hundreds of metres away. Marine dives have found these “dead zones” are completely devoid of marine life. [4]

Open net-pen fish farms pollute our oceans for free. While fish farming is an important industry, it is imperative that B.C. moves to more sustainable farming methods with closed containment farms to ensure the preservation of the province’s delicate ecosystems.